Garden Route
Back at the car at Lookout Beach in Plett, and the keys are not in any pocket
The Lookout Beach walk goes out along the sea to the Keurbooms river mouth and back beside the river: two stretches of sand, not one.
Keys that slipped out of a pocket on the Lookout Beach walk in Plettenberg Bay can be searched for, since the walk is a loop you can draw on a map. Your chances turn on whether you can say which half of the loop it was, the sea side or the river side.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone on the Garden Route with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Lookout Beach is one stop on a longer coast. Central Beach and Robberg Beach, the town beach in Plett, Brenton-on-Sea near Knysna, Buffalo Bay, Sedgefield, Wilderness, Victoria Bay and the Mossel Bay beaches are covered here as well, and so are Nature's Valley and Storms River Mouth to the east.
Retrace the loop from the parking lot
Check round the car first, then the path down to the sand. Walk the loop again in the direction you took it, slowing down where you stopped, sat or took your shoes off. On your phone's map, drop a pin at the car, at the river mouth where you turned and wherever you went into the water. Photos from the walk carry the time they were taken, which puts your stops in order.
Many people drive the N2 and stop several times in a day: a beach at Mossel Bay, a lookout at Wilderness, Brenton-on-Sea or Buffalo Bay near Knysna, then Plett. If the loss only came to light a town or two later, list every stop in the order you made them, with rough times.
Places we cover on the Garden Route
- Storms River Mouth, Tsitsikamma
- Nature's Valley
- Plettenberg Bay
- Lookout Beach
- Central Beach, Plett
- Robberg Beach (Plett town beach)
- Robberg 5
- The Robberg peninsula
- Keurboomstrand
- The Dunes Beach
- Knysna
- Brenton-on-Sea
- Noetzie
- Buffalo Bay (Buffelsbaai) and its Wild Side
- Sedgefield
- Myoli Beach
- Swartvlei beach and Gericke's Point
- Wilderness
- Wilderness beach, Leentjiesklip and the Touw River mouth
- Map of Africa viewpoint
- Dolphin's Point
- Victoria Bay
- Mossel Bay
- De Bakke Beach
- Hartenbos Beach
- Klein Brakrivier
- Glentana
- Dana Bay
Beaches and lookouts along the N2
Starting at Storms River Mouth, then Plettenberg Bay and back along the coast to Mossel Bay.
Storms River Mouth and Nature's Valley
In Tsitsikamma, where forest and fynbos roll down to the sea, the Storms River Mouth rest camp sits beside the rocky shore. A trail runs along the river mouth to the suspension bridge across it, and there is a snorkel route. Nature's Valley, between Storms River and Plett, is one of the area's Blue Flag beaches.
Lookout Beach and the Keurbooms river mouth
Lookout Beach is a place for sunbathing, surfing and bodyboarding, and the walk from the parking lot to the river mouth and back along the Keurbooms River is a popular one. The Dunes Beach lies between Keurboomstrand and the river mouth, and Keurboomstrand itself is a little wilder.
Central Beach, Robberg Beach and the peninsula
Central Beach is often the busiest in Plett, and marine safaris, dive charters and ocean kayaking tours launch from it. Robberg Beach, the town beach, is the one for long walks, stretching for kilometres from Beacon Island. Robberg 5, in its central area, is popular for surfing and bodyboarding. Beyond it, trails lead round the Robberg peninsula, past the island beside it, to a sand dune that runs down to the wild western side.
Brenton-on-Sea, near Knysna
Brenton-on-Sea, on the western side of the Knysna Heads, is a secluded village with a long sandy beach, shells and rock pools. The sandstone Castle Rock is a favourite with photographers, which makes it a handy mark for where your towel or bag was.
Buffalo Bay and Sedgefield
Buffalo Bay, half-way between Knysna and Sedgefield, is one of the favourite family beaches in the Knysna area, a long sandy beach for whole summer days, and its quieter Wild Side, on the right as you arrive, is good for walks. Sedgefield has five beaches, from Myoli, which people pick for rock pools and long walks at low tide, to Swartvlei beach and Gericke's Point, a snorkelling spot.
Wilderness beach, Map of Africa and Dolphin's Point
The Map of Africa lookout, reached on a signed gravel road, has wide views of the coastline and the forested hillside, and a grassy field that is a picnic site and a launch spot for paragliders. Dolphin's Point, on the N2, gives a higher view of the beach. Phones come out for photos at both, so tell us where you stood. Below, the long Wilderness beach has several bathing areas, Leentjiesklip and the Touw River mouth among them, and surf lessons run there.
Victoria Bay near George
Victoria Bay is a narrow cove between steep, tree-covered hills, with a narrow strip of golden sand and a rocky headland. Surfers know it for its right-hand point break, and it gets crowded on sunny days. There is a tidal pool beneath the pier.
Mossel Bay, Hartenbos and Klein Brak
Greater Mossel Bay has long, sandy beaches, among them De Bakke, Hartenbos, Glentana and Klein Brakrivier, and people come to swim, sail, surf, fish and walk. At Hartenbos a poetry route runs along the beach on marble slabs carrying extracts from sea-themed Afrikaans poems. Dana Bay is a beach for long walks.
The way we work a case
One reader for every message
Everything goes through one WhatsApp conversation, and the same person reads all of it, including photos you add days later.
Your loop, drawn out
What reaches the detectorist is the walk or drive itself, marked on a map with each stop numbered, together with your pictures of the place and the item.
Gaps in the story are fine
Not sure which beach it was, or which part of the walk? Say so. A rough answer still helps, and we tell you plainly what it does to the chances.
Talking about money
We explain the costs before any search is booked. You decide from there.
Where the surf is, and where the ground is firm
The kind of beach it was changes the questions we ask you.
Where people surf and bodyboard
Surfing, skimboarding and bodyboarding are popular on the Plett beaches, with Lookout Beach and Robberg 5 among the spots, and Victoria Bay is well known to surfers. A watch that came off out among the waves is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Walks at low tide
At Sedgefield, Myoli Beach is a place for rock pools and long walks at low tide, and Brenton-on-Sea has rock pools too. If you were out on a walk like that, the time you set off belongs in your first message along with the place.
Off the sand altogether
Some things go missing away from the beach: on the grass at the Map of Africa, at Dolphin's Point on the N2, or beside the car in a parking area. Places like that are easy to pin, and a photo shows exactly where you stood.
Questions about the Garden Route
Our car keys went somewhere on the walk from the Lookout parking lot to the river mouth and back. Which part do we describe?
Both, in the order you walked them. The route goes out along the ocean side to the mouth of the Keurbooms River and comes back beside the river, so tell us which way round you went, where you turned, and whether anyone paddled or swam on the way. A pin at the spot where you last had the keys in your hand, even if that was at the car, gives the detectorist a start. A picture of the spare key or the fob is useful too.
A wedding band came off as we climbed into a boat at Central Beach. Could it be in the shallows where the boats go out?
It could. Central Beach is where marine safaris, dive charters and ocean kayaking tours launch, so the water where you got in can be named with some confidence. Tell us which trip it was, when you set off and how deep the water was as you climbed aboard. If it could also have gone out at sea, say so, because that changes the odds.
My earring went missing after an afternoon bodyboarding at Robberg 5.
By the time you noticed, you may have walked some way along Robberg Beach, so start with the parking area you used and where you had set up for the afternoon. Robberg 5, in the central area of the beach, is popular for surfing and bodyboarding. Say whether you felt the earring go in the water or only found it missing on the sand, and describe it: its size, any stone, and the kind of back.
We stopped at the Map of Africa lookout at Wilderness and drove off without a phone. Could it still be there?
The lookout has a grassy field used for picnics and as a launch spot for paragliders, and a simple sign board that has become a favourite photo spot. Send a pin, say whether you were on the grass, by the sign or at the car, and roughly when you left.
A bracelet came off while the children were exploring rock pools at Brenton-on-Sea.
Brenton-on-Sea has a long sandy beach with rock pools and the sandstone Castle Rock, which makes a good landmark. Tell us whether the pools you were at were near Castle Rock or farther along the beach, and whether the bracelet could have gone on the sand on the way back. Describe the bracelet too: the metal, the clasp and roughly how long it is.
Could a ring lost on Hartenbos beach, near the poetry slabs, be found?
The slabs help. The poetry route at Hartenbos runs along the beach as a line of marble slabs carrying extracts from sea-themed Afrikaans poems, so you can tell us which slab or which poem you were closest to. Add a pin, the time of day and a clear photo of the ring.
A pendant slipped off at Victoria Bay while we sat on the sand watching the surfers.
The beach at Victoria Bay is a narrow strip of golden sand in a cove between steep hills. Tell us whether you sat nearer the pier or the rocky headland, and whether you went into the water. Describe the pendant and the chain it hung on.
Garden Route
From the Lookout loop to the Hartenbos slabs
Short first messages are fine.
Write on WhatsApp with the town, the beach or lookout, and what went missing. The pin and photos can follow once you are back at your phone.